Conventionally, an electronic device such as a mobile phone, a smartphone or the like includes a semiconductor package structure including a support substrate and a semiconductor device such as an IC chip or the like mounted thereon (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-278334). Generally in such a semiconductor package, a semiconductor device such as an IC chip, a memory or the like is bonded on a support substrate with an adhesive layer being provided therebetween, and the semiconductor device is covered with a sealing member (formed of a resin material for sealing), so that the semiconductor device is protected.
The support substrate used for such a semiconductor device may be any of various substrates including a printed substrate, a ceramic substrate and the like. Especially recently, a semiconductor package including a metal substrate has been progressively developed. A semiconductor package including a metal substrate and a semiconductor device mounted thereon and fanned out by re-wiring has an advantage of being superb in electromagnetic shielding characteristics and thermal characteristics and now is a target of attention as a highly reliable semiconductor package. Such a semiconductor package also has an advantage of having a high degree of designing freedom.
In the case of a structure including a support substrate and a semiconductor device mounted thereon, a plurality of semiconductor devices may be mounted on a large support substrate, so that a plurality of semiconductor packages may be manufactured in one manufacturing process. In this case, the plurality of semiconductor packages formed on the support substrate are separated into individual pieces after the manufacturing process is finished, and thus individual semiconductor packages are provided. As can be seen from this, the semiconductor package structure including a support substrate and a semiconductor package mounted thereon also has an advantage of being high in mass-productivity.
In the case where a plurality of semiconductor packages are mass-produced using a large metal substrate as a support substrate as described above, the plurality of semiconductor packages formed on the metal substrate need to be separated from each other as individual semiconductor packages by a mechanical method, for example, by use of a dicing blade or the like. If the metal substrate is cut by a dicing blade for the separation, the dicing blade is abraded and needs to be replaced with a new one in a short time.